Sorry to hear of the loss of your friend. As a devote cyclist it always hits me hard to hear of another cyclist being injured - especially when it appears as though it was through no fault of their own.

Maybe it's not as obvious to you but, I feel, your writing adds some much needed colourful philosophy to our community. As you say yourself, all too often we end up with our heads buried deep in virtual technical problems and forget to embrace the world that surrounds us. I can't count how many people I've shown your leadership talk to [0].

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V74AxCqOTvg